Carton cutter



May 31, 1960 R N. RICHARDS 2,938,264

CARTON CUTTER Filed Jan. 2, 1959 'll'liii jlill 20 INVENTOR.

Q1/5515 LL A 2/66 4205 BY F AA flaw/M ATTORNEKS United States Patent C) CARTON CUTTER Russell N. Richards, 608 Gray Ave., Greenville, Ohio Filed Jan. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 784,667

3 Claims. (Cl. 30-2) This invention relates to carton openers or slitters and is particularly concerned with a device of this nature adapted for utilizing a conventional razor blade.

Box or carton cutters or slitters are known and are widely used, particularly in retail establishments for opening large cartons which contain merchandise to be sold. The cutters or slitters which are employed to open such cartons are generally holders in which a blade can be attached so that the tape closing the carton flaps can be cut and the flaps turned back to expose the contents of the carton or box. Such cutters have a disadvantage that the blade is exposed thus making the tool hazardous to use and carry about.

Further, with many such boxes or cartons it would be of advantage to cut the top off completely rather than to open the flaps and this cannot safely be accomplished by conventional slitters or cutters because the blade is unguided and the danger would exist that the contents within the box or carton would be damaged in cutting off the box or carton top.

In addition to the wide use that a carton cutter or slitter has in retail outlets, there is also a large field of use for opening devices in the home or in industry where individual boxes are to be opened. Such boxes may comprise cereal boxes or soap or detergent boxes or the like. In such cases it would be of advantage to have available a tool which would quickly and readily out completely or partly around the top of such a box so that it could be opened and the contents thus be made available.

In this case also the tool is advantageously of such a nature that the cutting blade can be accurately guided and at least partly protected.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved carton cutter or slitter or opener of the nature referred to which can form accurately located incisions or cuts along the edge of a box or carton.

7 Another object of this invention is the provision of a carton cutter or slitter which is safe to handle in that the cutting blade is at least partly enclosed.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a carton cutter or slitter that utilizes a conventional razor blade and in which the blade can be easily replaced.

A still further object of this invention is a carton cutter or [slitter of the nature referred to utilizing a conventional razor blade in which all four corners of the blade can be used in succession. 3

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a carton cutter or slitter having a sharpened blade in which the blade is always held at the most advantageous cutting angle during a cutting or slitting operation.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a carton cutter or slitter having a sharpened blade which is adjustable so that the cut or incision made by the cutter is at the proper distance from a corner edge of the box or carton being cut.

r 2,938,264 Patented May 31, 1960 It is also an object of this invention to provide a carton cutter or slitter having the blade at least partly protected by a guide but which is adjustable completely to expose the edge of the blade for slitting or stay tapes or the like.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view looking down on top of a carton with a cutter according to the present invention formingan incision downthe side of the carton;

Figure 2 is a transverse cross section indicated by line 2-2 on Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the several parts of the carton cutter individually;

Figure 4 is a sectional view indicated by line 4-'4 on Figure 1 but showing how an additional spacer element could be inserted between the cutting blade and the guide member to vary the location of the incision which the cutter makes;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a modified structure in which the guide member is retractable to expose the cutting blade; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view indicated by line 6-6 on Figure 5 showing the guide member in retracted position and with the blade exposed for slitting tapes or the like.

Referring to the drawing somewhat more in detail, in Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a carton 10 which is to be opened by forming an incision about the top thereof. This incision is formed by a carton cutter arrangement according to the present invention and which consists of a support member 12 that may be provided with finger apertures 14 and 16. Support member 12 has a straight edge portion at 18 adapted for engaging the side of a box or carton so as to guide the cutter along the carton and to regulate the depth of the cut made by the blade of the cutter.

Resting on the support 12 is a blade 20 having two sharpened edges and which blade may be a conventional double edged razor blade.

Resting on the blade is a block 22 approximately the same size and shape as the blade but having one corner cut oif as at 24 in Figure 3 so that the edge of the blade extending beyond support 12 is exposed.

Guide member 26 rests on top of the spacer member 22 and extends a substantial distance beyond the exposed edge 28 of the blade and over the top of the carton to becut or slit. Guide member 26 thus serves as a guide to guide the cutting blade along the box or car'- ton a predetermined distance downwardly from the top so that the incision will be formed at the proper place therealong and also at least partially enclosed the blade thereby making the cutting tool of the present invention relatively safe to handle and use.

Nuts and bolts 30 passing through the cutter clamps the several parts together. It will be evident that these nuts and bolts can be removed to permit blade 20 to be turned end for end or side for side whereby each of the four corners of the blade can be used in succession for cutting or slitting operations.

In utilizing the device the guide member 26 is placed on the top of the carton and the blade is then pressed inwardly. to engage the carton and the device is then drawn along the edge and the desired incision is thus made. In order to prevent the guide member 26 from snagging on the carton it may have the leading edge thereof as at 32 either relieved or bent slightly upwardly.

It will further be evident that the spacer member 22 determines the distance down the side edge of the carton that the incision will be made. This member will thus vary in width so that for opening large cartons which may consist of corrugated boxboard up to $41" or 3 more in thickness, this member may be A3 to di thick while for openingboxes such as individual cereal, soap 3; ietergent boxes, the member may be less than A" As will be seen in Figure 4 a single cutting tool may be provided for both situations by making the spacer member 22 of the minimum thickness and then providmg one or more added spacers 34 which may be placed in face to face relation with spacer 22 thus covering :jhe giGstance between cutting blade 20 and guide mem- In certain instances, particularly in retail or commercial establishments, it maybe desired to slit the stay tape of a carton or a bonding tape holding the flaps together and with this in mind the modification of Figures 5 and 6 may be provided and wherein all parts of the arrangement are identical with those described above and their corresponding numbers with the exceptionof the guide and protective member which is indicated at 36 and which is characterized in having slots 38 that receive the clamping bolts of the nut and bolt combinations 30. By loosening the clamping nuts and bolts, the guide member 36 can be slipped back to its Figure 6 position and again clamped in place thereby completely exposing the portion 28 of blade 20 that extends outwardly from support member 12.

The cutter in this case can be employed for making incisions in a flat surface such as would be the case in cutting the tape that ties the flaps of a carton together.

For the purpose of preventing accidental slipping of the guide member in its extended position, the slots 38 are preferably provided with recesses 40 for receiving the heads of the screws at their one ends. The provision of these recesses insures that the guide member will not slip out from its extended position even if the clamping nuts and bolts become slightly loosened in use.

The material from which the device is made is indicated as plastic and this is an eminently suitable material particularly where the plastic is clear. However, the material could be an opaque plastic or it could be metal or a resin bonded glass fiber or any suitably strong material.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides for an inexpensive extremely simple carton or box cutter or slitter and one which is exact and relatively safe to use and which is adjustable for adapting it to substantially any condition of box or carton cutting or slitting or tape slitting.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a carton cutter; a relatively thin flat support member having one straight edge, a cutting blade resting on the support member and having a sharpened edge portion extending beyond said straight edge at an angle thereto, a guide member also relatively thin and fiat parallel with said support member and spaced from the blade on the opposite side thereof from the support member, said guide member having a portion extending outwardly beyond the straight edge of the support member a distance farther than the projection of said blade and having an edge thereof substantially parallel with the said straight edge of the support member, spacer means interposed between the guide member and the blade, and means detachably clamping the support member, blade, spacer means and guide member togther, the said blade being located on the support member adjacent one end of the said straight edge thereof and the exposed sharpened edge of the blade being on the edge of the blade facing away from the said one end of the straight edge of the support member, the end of the guide member toward the end which the sharpened edge of the blade faces being formed upwardly away from the support member to prevent the guide member from snagging on a box or cartpn, and said guide member being movable relative to the support member, blade, and spacer member to permit the said portion of the guide member to be retracted from its position of projection beyond the straight edge of support member to expose the said blade for slitting operations on a flat surface.

2. In a carton cutter; a support member having a straight edge, a blade resting on the support member having a sharpened edge projecting beyond the said edge of the support member at an angle thereto, a guide member spaced from the blade on the side opposite the support member and extending beyond the said straight edge of the support member further than the said blade projects, said guide member at its projecting edge being parallel with the said edge of the support member, spacer means between the guide member and the blade, bolt means extending through the support member, blade, spacer means, and guide member clamping them together, and said guide member having slot means therein through which the bolt means extend so that upon loosening said bolt means the guide member can be adjusted so that its straight edge is substantially in alignment with the said straight edge of the support member whereby to expose the said blade for slitting operations on a fiat surface.

3. In a carton cutter; a support member having a straight edge, a blade resting on the support member having a sharpened edge projecting beyond the said edge of the support member at an angle thereto, a guide member spaced from the blade on the side opposite the support member and extending beyond the said straight edge of the support member further than the said blade projects, said guide member at its projecting edge being parallel with the said edge of the support member, spacer means between the guide member and the blade, bolt means extending through the support member, blade, spacer means, and guide member clamping them together, and said guide member having slots therein through which the bolt means extend so that upon loosening said bolt means the guide member can be adjusted so that its straight edge is substantially in alignment with the said straight edge of the support member whereby to expose the said blade for slitting operations on a flat surface, said slots having recessesat the ends thereof in which the heads of said bolt means are located when the guide member is projecting beyond the support member thereby to prevent accidental movement'of the guide member from its projecting position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

